Microsoft has just rolled out an update that lets you login to its apps and services without a password.

The company has been moving toward a passwordless future for years, previously adding support for logging into your PC using a fingerprint, face recognition, or a PIN, for example. But up until recently those were all tied to your Microsoft password. Now Microsoft is letting you delete the password altogether… but you’ll have to jump through some hoops.

First, you’ll need to download and install the Microsoft Authenticator app on your Android or iOS phone. Then you can follow Microsoft’s instructions for changing your account settings to go passwordless.

In a nutshell, that means you have to:

  • Login to your Microsoft Account in a web browser.
  • Go to the Security settings.
  • In the area that says “Additional security,” turn on the Passwordless account option and follow the on-screen instructions from there.

Once you’ve logged into your Microsoft account in the Authenticator app and clicked the final button to delete your password, you’ll get a prompt on your phone that you have to agree to before it’s really gone.

After that, any time you try to login to your Microsoft account you can do so without a password in one of four ways:

  • Get a prompt in the Microsoft Authenticator App.
  • Use Windows Hello fingerprint or face recognition.
  • Use a security key.
  • Have a verification code sent to your phone or email address.

And you never have to remember your password again… because there isn’t one. Feel more secure with one though? You can just go back into your Microsoft settings and turn off the Passwordless account option to create one again.

via Microsoft (1)(2)

 

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3 replies on “You don’t need a password for Microsoft accounts anymore”

  1. Just send them your DNA guys, c’mon it’s the future. I’m sure Bill Gates isn’t plotting anything, he just likes to hoarde people’s personal everything and buys all the land for fun. He was testing RNA vaccines in Africa while giving them free water for the last decade and those people always got screwed but it’s a coincidence. Just comply, it’s for our own good.

  2. Or you can just pop in a usb flash drive filled with Linuxy goodness. Only a few clicks and the badman is gone.

    Friends don’t let friends do Microsoft. Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Amazon for that matter.

    Be a good friend.

    Best,

    Steven B.

  3. How about instead of this, they make it so that I don’t need to use a Microsoft account to log into my Windows PC?

Comments are closed.